Six months later:
Jack put the ax into the chopping block as he raised his hands to his mouth and blew air onto them trying to ward off the chill in the air. Being somewhat unaccustomed to the planet and to relying solely on the wood-burning stove for heat, he had miscalculated the amount of wood they would need for the winter. Not to mention that there was almost no way to calculate the needs and wants of a pregnant woman.
Sam was a little more than six months pregnant according to their calculations, and she had taken to staying in the house all day, trying desperately to domesticate herself to the level of the women who had previously occupied these houses. Within a few weeks, she had created a new quilt for the bed, which they wrapped around themselves at night, and that cut back the draft that they felt in the one-room cottage they lived in quite a bit.
Jack smiled. It had been a good thing that she had made the quilt a little bigger than they would have needed. It made it easier to tuck around her expanding stomach, while still giving them the room that they needed.
"Jack!" She called as she walked toward him, draped in one of the oversized heavy shawls that she had found in one of the neighboring houses.
He turned as she reached him. "Hey! What are you doing out here?"
"It's going to be a blizzard tonight."
He laughed. "The animals tell you that?"
She grinned sheepishly. She had also learned to listen to the sounds of nature around her to indicate the weather conditions. So far, she had never been wrong.
She placed her arm in his as she huddled closer to him for warmth. "Come inside."
He looked at the meager pile of wood. "I'm almost done…" He protested, half-heartedly.
She coughed. "It'll be enough to get us through the storm." She said, confidently as she shivered, her hair being tossed about in the wind that had begun to pick up.
She let go of his arm as he bent down to pick up the logs. "Okay."
She wrapped the shawl tighter around herself, shivering as she did so.
"Go on inside. I'll be right back."
She looked at him. "I'd rather stay with you."
He shrugged. If Sam wanted to do something, she was going to do it, good, bad or ugly.
They walked together to the cottage, Sam's limp a little more pronounced because of the cold and the extra weight that she carried. She stumbled with another cough, and Jack instantly reached out a hand to keep her from falling. "Thank you." She said, clutching his arm as if it was her lifeline.
After ten minutes of walking against the wind, they reached their tiny oasis. As they walked over the threshold, Sam let out a racking cough that lasted for a good thirty seconds.
"Sam, you okay?" Jack asked.
She nodded, one hand over her mouth, standing still. Her head began pounding with the lack of oxygen. She breathed in deeply after her spell, tired from the added strain that the bout had induced, but unfortunately she inadvertently stimulated yet another cough.
Jack helped her to a chair. "You sure you're okay?"
She nodded. "It's nothing."
He raised an eyebrow. "That cough has been getting worse over the last few days, Sam."
She tried to breathe, but the tightness in her chest made it almost impossible. She took a few gasping breaths as Jack hurried to get the broth from the stew that she had been making. The steam helped to clear her airways for a little while.
"Thank you." She said, tightening the shawl around her as she thawed.
"How 'bout making it an early night, huh?" He asked, brushing a strand of her hair back from her face.
She nodded, too weak to argue. Only a half an hour later, he had her in bed, her body giving into its need for rest.
As he tucked the quilt around her, Jack couldn't help but have the fear that she would leave him alone on this planet creep up on him again.
--
When Jack awoke the next morning, he was lying on a damp pillow with his arms around his shaking wife. Sam was shivering with a high fever that disoriented her. She was asleep primarily, and for that Jack was grateful, knowing that she would need as much rest as she could get, but he was still worried.
He got up and went outside, getting some of the snow that had fallen from the night before and put it in a tub to melt. This way, they would have cool water, he thought, with which to try and coax her fever down.
He got a small handful of the snow and formed a snowball out of it. Then, he gently placed the ice-ball on her face, letting the ice melt against her hot skin.
"Oh." She moaned.
"I know, Sam. It's cold."
"Too cold." She said, shivering.
"I would rather give you antibiotics to bring your fever down and fight the infection, but without a rescue, I don't think that's going to happen." He said, lightly.
She swallowed and nodded, allowing her eyes to glide shut again. "Sleep." She informed him.
"I know. You get your rest. You're going to need it." He said, retucking the blankets around her. As she slowly drifted back to sleep, Jack woke her. "Sam!"
She awoke, startled. "I'm sorry, hon." He said, with an embarrassed smile on his face. "I know I promised you that I'd let you sleep because you need it…but I don't want you to sleep until I've said this."
She opened her eyes a little more. "What?"
"Don't you dare even think about dying on me." He said, still allowing the ice to travel around her fever-flushed face.
"Why? Do you love me or something?" She asked, smiling a tender, and somewhat absent smile at him.
"Actually, I'm just afraid you'd leave me all alone. And you know how I get without someone to talk to." He said, trying to lighten up the mood.
She grinned, her eyes closed as she began to slip back to sleep. "Besides…if you were ever to be rescued…that'd be a hell of a lot of paperwork."
He smiled. "You've been hanging around me too long." He said tenderly.
She didn't respond, and Jack realized that she had fallen back to sleep. He kissed her forehead. "Come on, Sam. We can get through this too. We have to get through this." He whispered.
--
Jacob looked at the readings coming from the scout ship's sensors. "It looks like we've found the Stargate."
Daniel came out of the cargo hold. "Really?"
"Well, I should probably clarify my statement. I'm receiving readings from the ship's sensors that there's a deposit of naquadah that has the right ratio and square footage that we're looking for to find the Stargate. It's probably buried. However, the bad news is that those are the only readings that we're receiving at this time."
"Then it is most likely that both O'Neill and Major Carter have perished." Teal'c said, realistically.
"Yeah," Jacob said as he prepared the craft to land. "But when have either Sam or Jack done anything that could be considered most likely?"
Teal'c nodded, conceding defeat.
They landed in the crater left by the meteor that hit the Stargate. Jacob reached for the Air Force standard-issue coat. "It's gonna be chilly. Better bundle up!"
His words were unnecessary as both Daniel and Teal'c were fully ready to brave the winter storm, each additionally armed with compasses and flashlights. "If they're still alive, they're probably in the village." Daniel said, taking the lead.
The more experienced warriors looked at one another. When they were unable to find fault with his logic, they followed wordlessly. Suddenly, Daniel stopped and picked something up.
"What is it, Daniel Jackson?" Teal'c asked.
"I'm not sure." He said, turning the thin piece of metal over in his hands. "I can't make it out in this blizzard, but I have a bad feeling that it's one of the chevrons from the Stargate."
"Hopefully, Sam and Jack can shed some light on the subject, huh?" Jacob said, pressing forward.
They reached the town square about an hour and a half later. As they got closer and closer to Sam and Jack's house, the soft glow of firelight was more and more pronounced. "Jack!" Daniel called. "Sam!"
In his enthusiasm, the archaeologist stumbled a few times trying to get to the door, Jacob and Teal'c following at a wiser, but similarly excited pace. When Daniel reached the door, he pounded on it loudly. "Jack! Sam!"
Still there was no answer.
"Come on you guys! OPEN THE DOOR!" Daniel shouted at the top of his lungs.
Suddenly, the door opened to reveal Jack, standing before them, perfectly healthy, but obviously sleepy. "Do you guys have ANY idea what time it is?"
"We'll review etiquette later, Jack." Jacob said, more than ready to go inside and hopefully find Sam alive and well. "Where's Sam?"
Jack opened the door a little more and stood behind it to welcome them in. The three men entered the cozy cottage.
"Jack?" Sam asked, her voice cracking in dehydration.
He closed the door and walked over to her. Her eyes were closed, but it was obvious that she was conscious. "Hey," he said, sitting on the bed. "Look what the cat dragged in."
"We have a cat?" She asked deliriously, swallowing.
"Jacob brought Teal'c and Daniel to see us."
"Rescue?" She asked.
"Looks like it."
"Wasn't…sure…just…dreaming…" She managed before she slipped back to sleep.
"I know." He said, taking the cold compress from her forehead. He soaked it in the ice-cold water in the basin and returned it to her forehead.
"So…ah…you two got to know each other well…" Daniel said, voicing the observations of all three.
"Huh?" Jack asked, standing up.
"You seem to have…" Jacob began, still reeling in shock at the sight of his pregnant daughter.
"What, Jacob? I seem to have what?" Jack asked, frustrated with the speechlessness of his colleagues.
"You seem to have consummated your relationship with Major Carter." Teal'c said, straightforwardly.
"That…that's it." Daniel said, quickly and nervously.
"What?" Jack asked, confused.
"My daughter is pregnant, Jack. It's pretty obvious that SOMETHING happened." Jacob said, recovering quickly.
Jack realized what they had been referring to and his eyebrows shot up, trying to explain it away, but finally he shrugged. "Well…took you guys long enough."
"We had a few…complications." Jacob said, walking over to the bed. "What's she got? Do you know?"
"I think she's either got pneumonia or bronchitis."
"Well, we brought extra medical supplies. Dr. Fraiser wanted to come in case you needed her, but General Hammond said he needed her at the SGC."
"The good news is that it is only a two-day journey back to Earth by alkesh." Teal'c said, cheerfully.
"And shorter than that if we fly to a closer planet with a Stargate. But until then, we have penicillin. Janet said it would take care of any bacterial infection."
Jack nodded. He reached for a glass and filled it with water. He took the tablets offered and sat on the bed by Sam again. "Hey, Sam…"
He touched her shoulder and she suddenly awoke. "Huh?" She asked, jerking forward.
"Hey, it's okay. Your dad's here."
She looked up and found Jacob looking at her tenderly. "Hey, Sam."
"Dad."
"So, you decided to settle down without your old man's approval."
She grinned, tiredly. "You got a problem with my man?"
Jacob looked at Jack, studying him. "Well, he's a little rough around the edges, that's for sure."
"But…" Jack prompted.
"Who said there was a but?" Daniel asked. "I've already told you that if I had a sister I wouldn't let you near her. That goes for Sam too."
Sam laughed as Jack gave Daniel a wounded look, however her laugh was turned into another painfully racking cough that lasted several seconds.
"Sam, baby, drink this." Jack said, setting the cup of cold water against her parched lips. She nodded, utterly exhausted by the bout.
He began to set the pills on her tongue when Selmak placed his hand on Jack's shoulder. "Maybe we can be of some more immediate assistance."
Jack moved as Jacob reached into his Tok'ra tote and pulled out his healing device. He stood over his daughter, registering the damage. He stopped the flow of energy as he completed his preliminary analysis. "Well, Jack, you were right. She does have pneumonia, but that's not the worst of it. At least that, I can fix."
Sam and Jack suddenly paled in fear.
"The bad news is that I can't take care of the injury on her leg. It's too old an injury. And with the way that it is now, I doubt she'll pass the physical requirements to be an Air Force field officer."
"But the baby's okay?" She asked after they processed the information.
Jacob looked startled. "Oh, yeah…the baby's great. Completely healthy."
They let out sighs of relief when Jack put his hand on Jacob's shoulder. "Do what you can."
Jacob nodded. He stood for several moments as the energy emitted by the hand device was absorbed by Sam's body. When he was finished, Sam's breathing deepened, and she fell to sleep. When Jack placed a concerned hand onto her forehead, he could already feel a decrease in her temperature.
"Thanks."
"Hey, what are fathers-in-law for?"
Jack grinned, sheepishly. "Well, now that we're going back to Earth…I'd like to ask your permission to marry your daughter."
Jacob smiled. "Like I could ever really refuse...you have my permission. More than that, you have my blessing."
Jack returned the smile. "Thanks…Dad."
Jacob raised an eyebrow. "Don't push it." He said as all of the guys laughed.